AB0998 Diet and joint symptoms: a survey of Moroccan patients with osteoarthritis
Authors: R. Bensaid, T. Fatima Zahrae, N. El Mansouri, A. Anass, I. Berrichi, B. Khadija, F. Abourazzak
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2022)

Background The question of diet is frequently asked by patients with osteoarthritis. Beyond the effect of weight on the aggravation of their symptoms, patients often ask whether certain foods, described as inflammatory or anti-inflammatory, can improve or worsen their disease. Objectives The objective of our study is to investigate whether Moroccan patients report a relationship between certain foods and their symptoms and also to study whether they adopt specific dietary behaviors in an effort to alleviate their symptoms. Methods This is a survey based on a questionnaire, that included any patient followed for osteoarthritis who presented to the rheumatology department. The questionnaire consisted of 3 parts: 1) Socio-demographic data, co-morbidities, and information on osteoarthritis (location, duration of evolution, functional impact and treatments). 2) Beliefs and attitudes of patients regarding diet in relation to osteoarthritis. 3) A list of 24 foods for which patients were asked to indicate whether they aggravated, improved or left their joint symptoms unchanged. Results At this time we included 120 patients. The mean age was 57.1 ± 11.8, 88.3% of the patients were women, 41.2% had comorbidities, 62.5% were illiterate. The median duration of osteoarthritis was 4 years [2; 7]. 64.2% of the patients were followed for gonarthrosis, 25% for discarthrosis and 10.8% for digital osteoarthritis. The average BMI was 27.8 ± 5.2. 8.3% of the patients thought that diet influenced their osteoarthritis. 9.5% of the subjects stated that food had an effect on their symptoms, 9.2% of them reporting an improvement and 8.3% an aggravation. Fish (1.7%), garlic (1.7%), and olive oil (1.7%) were the foods most often cited as improving joint symptoms, while red meat (3.3%), and sweetened soft drinks (2.5%) were the most often cited as worsening symptoms. 6.7% of the patients had food avoidance behaviors, 10.8% adopted certain diets and 5.8% had tried fasting in order to relieve joint symptoms. In univariate and multivariate analysis, education level (OR: 0.165; 95% CI [0.046-0.592]; p=0.006) and experience with a food that improves symptoms (OR: 46.8; 95% CI [1.798-1222.5]; p=0.021) were associated with reporting that food influences OA symptoms. Conclusion Our study showed that associations between certain foods and worsening or improving joint symptoms were reported by a minority of patients and appeared to be mostly associated with patients’ education level and experience of a food improving symptoms. References [1]Cedraschi C, Delézay S, Marty M, et al. “Let’s talk about OA pain”: a qualitative analysis of the perceptions of people suffering from OA. Towards the develop-ment of a specific pain OA-Related questionnaire, the Osteoarthritis SymptomInventory Scale (OASIS). PLoS ONE 2013;8:e79988. [2]Grover AK, Samson SE. Benefits of antioxidant supplements for knee osteoarthritis: rationale and reality. Nutr J 2016;15:1. [3]Sally T, Heather B, Mobasheri A, Rayman PM. What is the evidence for a role for diet and nutrition in osteoarthritis? Rheumatology 2018;57:iv61_iv74doi:10.1093/rheumatology/key011. [4]Veronese N, Stubbs B, Noale M, Solmi M, Luchini C, Smith TO, et al. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with lower prevalence of osteoarthritis: Data from the osteoarthritis initiative. Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland). 2017 Dec; 36(6):1609–1614. Disclosure of Interests None declared